Egi Taltos Picture

In Hungarian mythology the táltos was a person who has magican ability and some kind of unusual features (for example, they born with tooth, or have 6 or more fingers.) The táltos had a special mission in life to cure both body and soul of other members of society. The táltos was able to go into a deep meditation called "révülés", and in such a state could cure sickness of any kind. The táltos also had a mission to communicate with the entire Hungarian nation in a time of danger, to warn against invading armies or an impending cultural collapse.

Táltos is similar to a shaman, but not the same, because there are many differences between them. for example:

# the shamans learn to be shamans, while táltos get their power during prenatal period, they "know" everything once born.# The shamans use external materials to go into mediation, táltos can do "révülés" without anything. In fact táltos look like ordinary people.# The shamans usually do some kind of acting (dancing, mumbling, etc) when they are in "operation", while táltos are always without any movement or sound.# The shaman tradition is without horse, while táltos tradition is tied to "táltos horse".# The táltos has a personalised mission in life from God.